I am posting here an email exchange between myself and Dr Hoffer. Dr Hoffer has been a leader in the orthomolecular medicine movement for over fifty years. He founded the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and coined the term "orthomolecular medicine." I have been doing this now for over two years with tremendous results on my personal allergies. Never use a time release niacin, for some reason they have been shown to be dangerous.

Dear Dr. Hoffer, I work in special ed and read your wonderful book ABC's, in addition to helping many of my students and other people that I know, I started taking 1/2 gram of niacin three times per day for the flush effect. I have many food allergies and chemical sensitivities. Now if a little wheat or food coloring or strong fragrance slips in, instead of feeling ill and lethargic for two to four days I flush a little stronger. Now a strong flush feels like a little sunburn, when I first started a year and a half ago, I turned beet red from head to toe for five days. Thank You for this insight and G-d Bless you, Rabbi Nachum Bergos

Dear Rabbi Bergos: Thank you very much for your kind message. I am pleased that my books have been so helpful. Niacin decreases histamine levels and in this way reduces the intensity of many allergic reactions. I use it in combination with vitamin C to protect people against the terrible peanut allergy. If one reduces the amount of histamine to a very low level the allergic reactions can not be as dangerous. Guinea pigs given niacin and then exposed to anaphylactic shock do not die in contrast to the ones not so protected A, Hoffer

His name is Dr. Abram Hoffer and you can find him with a search on the internet. His main thing is not food allergies and this is an odd use I am making of the niacin. He has been working with schizophernics for over fifty years using vitamin therapies. There are many things to be done for food allergies. I was a cripple and dying from mine twenty years ago. Food allergies are usually based on a leaky gut syndrome. To heal the gut you want to use MSM, l-glutamine, aloe, etc. To deal with the symtoms you want to, first find you what you are allergic to and avoid it. Then things like quercetin with bromelain, niacin with at least equal amounts of vitamin C, etc. Get the book Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Balch and Balch.

hi i am allergic to peanuts, a little bit. i say a little bit because i don't die or anything, i just get syptoms similar to mild asthma. it's very irritating. i ate a nestle crunch bar, which is made in the same plant as peanut products, and naturally, it probably has peanut pieces in it. stupid me, i took a bite anyway. now my lips are itchy, my bronchial tubes are irritated, i feel basically like the kid in 3rd grade with freckles, glasses, asthma and food allergies, even though i am not in 3rd grade, i do not have freckles, asthma (as of now), or glasses. i feel all itchy. can allergies be brought on by hypochondria. because i'm sorry to say it, but i admit i am a hypochondriac from time to time. i am bipolar, and take lots of medications for it. i recently ate a pizza at school, it was not kosher, as i do eat dairy and fish that is not nessecarilly kosher but not traif (ofcourse, one could debate that, but i'm not here to debate. obviously, i skipped the pieces with pepperoni on them..) anyway, the next day, my face got all flushed, and i almost sort of broke out in hives, but not quite. i heard allergies only get worse, not better. is this true? and what is this thing about niacin? is it a new discovery? also, how long does a mild peanut allergy reaction last? it's getting very irritating and i want it to go away already. i've had these before, once when i ate a peanut coated and chocolate chip rice cake by quaker, and once from a luna bar. both lasted about a day, but the second day it lasted 1.5 days. i hope the duration of these attacks are not getting longer. i don't know if/how i'll deal with that. argh. one would think bpd and ocd is enough to deal with, right? now a (mild) peanut allergy? sheesh. when does it end?

My 2 yr old has allergy symptons to nuts, eggs & milk. I did allergy testing at the pediatricians office which showed an allergy to nuts & eggs, but not milk. Yet she's still getting hives if I give her milk. Is there any better way to test what's going on?Also, any clue as to when I can expect her to outgrow the allergies. The eggs is really tough as there is no replacement.

I have 2 boys under the age of 3 and both are allergic to multiple foods such as egg, milk, nuts, peanuts, and garlic. We are hoping they will outgrow these allergies and keep them away from all of the allergic foods. I have learned to cook without these items. I saw a previous post that stated that they are having a hard time cooking without eggs. First of all there is an egg substitute in the health food store with a hechsher (I think a kof k). It is good for baking cakes but not kugels, etc. A friend of mine found a great "recipe" to substitute for eggs. They say you can do this for up to 3 eggs. I've done up to 5. I've even made a potato kugel with it. It's not 100% the same but a pretty good consistency. Use 1 tsp of baking powder + 1 Tbsp vinegar + 1 Tbsp water per egg.

Hi-Would it be possible for you to please give me a contact email address for Dr Hoffer? My young daughter is highly anaphylactic to many foods (we have used more Epipens than I would care to remember!), and I would be very interested to talk to Dr. Hoffer. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

There's an excellent online support group for parents of children with food allergies called Kids with Food Allergies. Their address is kidswithfoodallergies.org. It cost money to be able to post and access all the boards but it's free to just read the posts on the main support forum. It's helped me learn a lot about my children's severe allergies.

Both my boys had terrible eczema which we couldn't clear. Their doctor told me to try an allergist. The allergist did the usual skin prick test and got the basic results. One of my boys needed a blood test to get more conclusive results. She told me that most kids if kept away from all problem foods should outgrow them by 2, but mine didn't. She is hoping he will outgrow it by 5. It's very hard with children with allergies to multiple foods. I've found different ways to modify regular recipes to our families diet. It's not the same, but then again not as bad. However, the diet definitely cleared their skin as their eczema is very under control now. The interesting thing is that we got them diagnosed before they were on any real solids. Their bodies were reacting to my milk (I was nursing) and I was eating the foods that they were allergic to. When they eat it directly the reaction is more severe. We have an epipen for my older son for dairy and nuts.

First of all there's a new cookie that tastes delicious, and has no eggs, wheat, nuts, or preservatives in it... It's called "Smunchies", you can go to www. Smunchies.com and check it out, it should be in stores now, or in a few weeks, they will also be making cake mixes, hamentashen etc... A friend of mine started it. Ok second of all, did anyone ever take the blood test for allergy testing? I get really bad headaches and vomit, three different proffessionals said it might be from food allergies... So I've been trying to be off certain foods, but sometimes I can't tell if this food is definately bad for me or it's just my imagination... Is the blood tests really worth the time and money to do it??

QuoteOriginally posted by: rinxOk second of all, did anyone ever take the blood test for allergy testing? I get really bad headaches and vomit, three different proffessionals said it might be from food allergies... So I've been trying to be off certain foods, but sometimes I can't tell if this food is definately bad for me or it's just my imagination... Is the blood tests really worth the time and money to do it??

We've done the blood test on my dd. For her it was very accurate, as was SPT (skin prick test). SPT and RAST (blood test) are equally accurate (or inaccurate).

Symptoms like headache and vomiting might indicate non IgE mediated allergies, in which case they will not test positive on any test. If you get a negative result on a test, don't assume it means you are not allergic.

There are a few mistakes on this forum that I've noticed, and because of the danger of some severe food allergies, I'd care to correct them.

ALL allergic reactions should be treated with an antihistamine of some kind. I like benadryl, but I know some people who use zyrtec. Do NOT allow them to go on, even if they are mild, because the longer the reaction is allowed to progress, the more histamine builds up in your blood stream and the worse the reaction will become. That's why some people who start out with mild symptoms sometimes end up in anaphylactic shock.

Not all allergies can be outgrown. For example, wheat and dairy allergies are often outgrown, but many other allergies, such as nuts, are considered "life long". And they also tend to be the most severe and they become more severe over time. Within six months of being diagnosed with a mild allergy to walnuts, I almost died of anaphylactic shock. Therefore, especially if you're allergic to nuts, stay away from the allergen at all costs, even if you only have a history of mild reactions. It is NOT worth the risk!

Headaches and vomiting could also signify a food sensitivity rather than a food allergy. A sensitivity is where your body does not "like" certain foods, whereas an allergy is caused by a release of histamine, which causes the symptoms of an allergic reaction.

Finally, "mild asthma" is considered a dangerous reaction as it interferes with your airways. A couple of months ago, I had what is considered a severe reaction because I was coughing. Admittedly, I couldn't stop, but anything involvig your throat or airways or circulatory system is extremely dangerous and should be treated as such.

I wish all of you the best of luck and I hope there are no more allergic reactions!

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Smile; it's what your mouth is there for---I have the short-term memory of a carrot---The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap

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